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Aids and appliances - PIP

I was wondering what people’s experiences are with aids/appliances?

For example:
Preparing food - use of stool to sit down
Bathing - use of back scrub
Toilet - use of radiator to pull myself up from the toilet
Dressing - use of chair/bed to sit down and use of sock aid

Moving around - use of special boots made by hospital orthotics department to help with difference in heights of legs

Particularly for a toilet, we have a radiator on the wall to the right of the toilet, a grab rail would as such be too high in this case so instead I use the side of the radiator to propel myself up.

So using something to propel yourself even though it is not a grab rail would be viewed as an aid per that post. Is this a uniform point or a case of on a case by case basis.

In the case of food, I require assistance to be able to have the ingredients in front of me otherwise I feel pain in my shoulder and back when reaching forward and upwards for equipment and ingredients. So whilst a stool is useful to allow me to sit whilst cooking, I require someone to help prepare. Per that linked post, they were not rewarded the extra points as the aids were deemed enough.

Similarly I mention use of a backscrub, however this causes pain in my shoulders and back due to the awkward angle involved in cleaning my back, so yet again I require assistance here.

Is it advisable to talk about aids even if they are not used because of difficulties such as those mentioned?

In the case of monitoring a health condition, does the use of apps on a mobile phone or even as in my case the use of notes to help remind me of medication has been taken and when I expect medication to run out for a refill class as an aid?

Whilst I do not have any reduced mental ability, the fact I take regular (5 doses over 2 periods) medication for conditions which do not affect my claim for PIP coupled with the need to take pain killers mean it can be difficult to track if I’ve taken medication along with the dosage of pain killers. Hence I keep a track using a note application.

Having a system is an aid to memory. I use my smartphone calendar so I know where I'm up too. I use the alarm to get me up, remind me why I A need to leave for an appointment. And I use multiple alarms for cooking.

You can also mention aids that you are aware off, have tried, but it doesn't help you. For example, in theory a 'perching stool' should help me in the kitchen but it doesn't due to my bad balance.

What you are doing is 'painting a picture of yourself going about your day'. It makes it easier for the assessor to assess the disabling barriers you face daily.